After the first batch of chickens, ducks and geese started laying eggs, the fertilized eggs were kept and continued to be incubated.
The Chen family's chicken, duck, and gosling production is quite considerable, which is why the people of Anping Village and Chen family employees can get super low prices from insiders.
Many vendors come to Anping Village to purchase chicken, duck and gosling seedlings, and the chicken, duck and gosling seedling industry in Anping Village has become more specialized.
There are many choices: some have just hatched, some have been raised for half a month or a month, and some can already lay eggs.
After the Chen family started hatching chicken, duck, and gosling chicks in large quantities, they also made the hatching technology public. Their breeding techniques had been public for a long time, and they even offered training courses.
However, once the incubation technology was made public, it immediately attracted many people to learn it.
The Chen family is not afraid of competition from others. With the drought getting worse, the aquaculture industry won't last much longer.
In December, pig slaughtering began in Anping Village.
The pigs in Anping Village are very fat and strong because the bean product industry in Chishan Village is well-developed, and the pigs raised there mostly eat bean dregs, which makes them plump and fat.
Old Man Chen has become a large-scale pig farmer, just as he wished.
Three months later, Anping Village's tourism industry began to lay off staff due to poor business and a sharp decrease in visitor numbers.
Except for holidays like Chinese New Year, business is very slow at other times, so as soon as the New Year is over, they start laying off employees.
As the drought worsened, there has been no rain, not even a single snowfall this winter. Most of the wealthy locals have fled to other places to develop their businesses.
Not only are river levels dropping sharply, but the land is also starting to crack. If the drought continues like this, it will be impossible to plant crops this year.
Seeing the severity of the drought, the people of Anping Village suddenly remembered a little piece of knowledge that Chen Kai had told them before: extreme drought breeds locusts.
Suddenly, rumors began to circulate in the village that a locust plague might occur this year, causing widespread panic and prompting every household to frantically stockpile supplies.
After a year of development, farming is no longer the only way for Anping Village residents to survive. Now, when faced with natural disasters like this, they no longer curse the heavens and earth, complain and wait to die, but instead try to develop other industries to continue to survive.
In order to maintain the breeding of chickens, ducks and geese, Anping Village began to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, saving water by diverting several water sources down from the mountains.
To ensure the risk assessment, Chen Kai asked Xiao Tian if there would be a locust plague this year. Xiao Tian replied that there would be a locust plague not only this year, but also next year, and the severe drought would continue.
Chen Kai suffered a severe blow.
If it's just a locust plague, raising chickens and ducks can alleviate the situation. The problem is that the drought might prevent us from raising enough chickens and ducks. Without a large army of chickens and ducks, the locust plague cannot be solved, and the drought will only worsen, with water resources becoming increasingly scarce. It's a vicious cycle.
This year, Chen Kai is six years old and Xiao Tian is seven. They have been in this world for two years, and their good days will soon come to an end.
The chickens, ducks, and geese raised in Anping Village during the winter were ready for market. Last year, a caravan was arranged to come and buy them. The villagers were also quite shrewd, and it was agreed beforehand that the payment would be made in grain.
This year, grain prices have risen again. Since the business deal was agreed upon last year, when grain prices hadn't risen yet, both parties made a profit.
"They're here! They're here! The caravan is here! I see the flags! They're being escorted by security guards!" a young man exclaimed excitedly.
When the caravan arrived at the village entrance, the village chief received them. After confirming the agreement with the villagers in accordance with last year's agreement and ensuring that there were no objections from either side, he took them to see the chickens, ducks, and geese that were being sold by each household.
The caravan leader, Boss Zhu, was very satisfied; he would take as many as there were.
Upon arriving at the Chen family home, they met Old Man Chen.
Mr. Zhu cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Chen, how have you been? Is it because I am not good enough for you? Why didn't you save me any of your new down products?"
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "What are you talking about? Our Anping Village's business all depends on your help."
The production of down products is really too small. I originally intended to keep some for my own use, so I took some out to sell. I didn't expect everyone to like it so much.
"We're definitely out of stock; you'll have to wait for the next batch. How about this, I'll send you a down comforter and a down jacket—these are ones I'm keeping for myself."
Mr. Zhu said happily, "Thank you!"
Then we continued discussing business.
The Zhu family's caravan was a large, well-known merchant caravan that traveled all over the country, and of course, they did more than just buy chickens, ducks, and geese.
We accept fermented bean curd, fermented black beans, dried bean curd sticks, egg white meat, salted duck eggs, and sausages.
He originally wanted to acquire down products as well, but unfortunately, he missed out.
This winter, the Chen family's down products are extremely popular, selling for three times the price of cotton products. Down products are warm and lightweight, making them very popular among the nobility. Due to their limited quantity, they have sold for exorbitant prices in some places.
Because down products were so popular, he heard about it even when he was far away.
The emergence of down products quickly sparked a craze for collecting duck down, and down product factories sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
The Chen family has been collecting duck down for more than half a year. The villagers saw the Chen family doing it before and followed suit for a while, but after more than half a year there was no progress, so everyone gave up.
Unexpectedly, when winter arrived, the Chen family's feather products suddenly appeared, and everyone realized that they had kept it a secret for more than half a year before finally revealing it.
Of course, the Chen family had to make sure they got their fill of meat first; otherwise, how could they bear to reveal the technique? They would be heartbroken.
In the evening, Anping Village received good news: the man who had gone to serve in the army last year had returned with a letter.
At the Chen family home, Chen Kai was reading aloud the letter sent back by Chen Laoqi.
The letter said that he and several other people from the village were in the same battalion, which must have been arranged by higher authorities.
He was a logistics soldier, which was not very dangerous. There were many reserve troops ahead of him, and the chances of logistics soldiers going to the battlefield were very small. To this day, he has never been to the front line.
I hope my family doesn't worry, they are both doing well.
However, there was also a troubling thing: the people of Peach Blossom Village were like mad dogs, always picking on the villagers and couldn't stand seeing them doing well.
They investigated and found out that Anping Village was developing well, and many young men in the village had gotten married. Several families that were originally chosen by Taohua Village were married off to people from Anping Village. They were very resentful and couldn't stand seeing their own village doing well.
After reading the letter, Chen Kai was speechless. He couldn't blame anyone else for not being able to get married.
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law immediately started cursing, "Those bastards from Pear Blossom Village have such big faces! They pick wives like they're choosing imperial concubines. If they like someone, why don't they marry her sooner? It's their own fault if someone else marries her! They have no ability and they can't blame others!"
After dinner, the village chief convened a meeting of the villagers to discuss matters related to the start of spring.
In April, the river in Anping Village dropped so low that the bottom could be seen. Due to the low water level, half of the waterwheels stopped turning and could not draw water, which also affected the irrigation of farmland in Anping Village.
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